Crappy Bikes

[Albie]

Toss up for me. Honda CL 360 or BMW 1150 GS Adv.

[spinalator]

I had a YZ 125 with the radiator mounted on the forks. Took a swan dive over jumps. I also put 4 pistons in that beast. I bought a CR 125 next and was so used to riding on the YZ I would be on the rear wheel most of the race.

I had a lemon KZ750. Almost everything was replaced on that bike and it still would not run properly. Carbs, electrics, Ignitor, Coils, Plugs, R/R, alternator, starter, starter clutches. Bah! Sold it to a friend and he hated me for 2 years until he sold it to a guy who already had 2 KZ's. At least he got a parts bike.

[Yamadog]

For me it was a Hasty-varna WR450. Could not get it tuned properly, could not keep pistons in it! Finally gave up on it and built a 4-stroke. For something resembling a street machine it was the old KLR.

[ctfz1]

A man told me there's a seat for every ass, uh , was that backwards? Probably.  If it goes....

[bikerider]

Yamaha GTS1000

[sammyseaman]

Yamaha GTS1000

Those were so cool.

[dan.fitzgerald]

1986 Kawasaki Ninja 600  

That bike HATED people, and me in particular. Would get the most violent tank slappys any time you decelerated below 65 Mph.

Lots of power, handled like absolute crap.

[timmitch]

1983 Honda Nighthawk 750.

A royal POS!

Gutless, ugly and a kickstand that was an inch too long so that every once in a while it would just tumble over. Nothing like having to pick up your bike every few weeks.

[mcoyote]

I've been blessed by being able to own a number of great bikes.

So, when I say "the worst" remember that it wasn't all that bad. In my case, that was the 2002 BMW K1200RS. Three tows w/in one year and 14k mi -- two EVO brake servo malfunctions on the road (leaving me with little/no braking) and a fuel pump malfunction. Cruise control also never worked for any stretch (fixed three times).

Upsides were several -- it was not half-bad looking, pretty comfortable, kinda fast, and the ABS brakes did save my bacon at least once. I would have probably not strayed and gotten the 'Busa and might still ride it if it had just started and gone without incident.

The CC was funny because I never really cared about it or had need for it on the east coast, but its constant not working-ness just glared at me from the handlebar.

[bizarro]

BMW R1150GS. Farging hated that bike. What a colossal and expensive mistake that was.

Best bikes I've owned, so far, are my Speed Triple, the 954RR I had, and the '95 VFR750 I rode to the first WCRM.

[Dakota]

1986 Kawasaki 440 LTD.  That bike stranded until I wanted to douse it in gas and just burn it.  I ended up selling it to some sucker.

[Barabus]

1988 Harley XLH 1200 Sportster.  Refused to run if not started every 3-4 days.  No suspension because it had been "slammed".  Shook at any speed and parts would rattle off as I ran down the road.  45 mph was top "cruising" speed above that was vibration city and no assurance of stopping quickly.  But hey it had the "Harley" name and a few after market parts that said "Ride to Live and Live to Ride."  Also had "polished aluminium"- stupid for spending hours hand polishing the heads, case, forks, ect.  Aluminum oxidizes almost immediately.  Poor man's chrome.  Sold it for the same as I paid 8k miles and 8 years later.  What a POS, but the stupid biker bitches loved it!

[Nitro]

my 02 concourse!!.hands still throb thinkin bout that clunky buzz vibrator!!..The connie wins this one easily...almost ties with a old 70's xs650 twin yammy I had...

uh-oh..new update on this for july 07...connie still wins over my new dl 650. Geeze..cant believe I bought this thing...oh well.... the Yammy drops to third...

[dm_gsxr]

In my opinion, the worst bike I've owned was the 2003 Honda Goldwing. We bought it, rode it, and put it away after a month. I didn't ride it more than a couple of times to keep the battery charged and the gas ok. I didn't reregister it and sold it about 6 months later I guess.

It was gigantic. I felt like I was wallowing. It killed my butt, back, and forehead after half a day's riding. Heck, we should have just gotten the convertable

Carl

[miles]

I had the worst Norton Commando to ever roll off the assembly line.  Only sheer determination and youthful stupidity kept that hunk on the road at all.

Oh, and I had a raft of Kawasaki 2-stroke triples.  They all sucked, but never really ran enough for me to get worked up about them.  Eventually I sold all four of them (in boxes, mostly) to some other idiot for more than I bought them for, so I guess that took a lot of the sting out.

On the flip side, one of the best bikes I ever owned was a '78 Yamaha XS650e.  I flogged that thing mercilessly for 75,000 miles, including more than 10,000 in Central America, and it just kept going.  I did quite a number of 1000 mile days on that thing...



miles

[Lowlander]

1980 KZ1300 , was a six cylinder , heavy sail of a faring , top heavy , crap .
cost me 1000 bucks in 86 and I was plowed into after 2 weeks of owining it , thank god , I got a 86 Aspencade after that now that was a nice bike  

When i got my concours in 2001 i was like this bike is shit , but now after my adjustments and additions its ok , but I'm Jonesing for a new ST

[FJRmgm]

1976 Kawasaki H1-500 two stroke.

Many a mosquito met his fate at the smoking tail pipe of that evil-handling, no brakes, poor gas mileage P.O.S.

But - it would ZING though.

[Against The Wind]

1998 BMW K1200RS

Left radiator cracked.

Right radiator leaked.

Thermostat leaked.

Turn signal control failed.

Heat grip failed.

Heat grip control failed.

Heat grip failed again.

Rear brake seized "ON" while riding and the engine kept on trucking. By the time I stopped, the entire rear end was not much more than melted aluminum and plastic.

Windshield bracket broke.

ABS brake system failed.

....................................... ....................................... ...............................

[Chronic]

My "88 Honda Magna V45 (bought new).  This ill-handling POS would scare me shitless everytime I took into the hills.  

[Shhted]

'68 Honda CB350.  To be fair - it wasn't the bike's fault.  It had been rode hard and put away wet far too many times.  By the time we got our hands on it, it should have been melted for scrap.